Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe 15.9.16
Topic
01 September 2016
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Juncker signals about-face amid refugee quota opposition (ekathimerini.com, link):
"European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says solidarity cannot be imposed on EU member countries amid vehement opposition in some states to his refugee quota scheme.
Juncker told EU lawmakers Wednesday that "solidarity must be voluntary, must come from the heart.""
OXFAM: Different conflict, same crisis (link):
"Close to four million refugees and asylum seekers have fled from one conflict zone to another, Oxfam said today ahead of two summits on migration in New York next week. Oxfam analysis shows that these millions of vulnerable women, men and children were registered in 15 countries - having fled their own - where conflict had caused a total of 161,250 deaths. That’s almost 16 percent of all people who have fled violence, persecution or war at home as they have ended up in another country that is itself in conflict or in a state of insecurity."
See: Briefing (pdf)
"In his State of the Union address this morning, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker asked the EU and Greece to take strong and immediate action to help unaccompanied children: “without protection of these children, Europe is betraying its historic values.” On September 10, the European Commission announced €115 million in new emergency funding to improve conditions for refugees in Greece, including for facilities for unaccompanied children. ...
Leaders in Greece and other EU countries should heed Juncker’s call, and act in concert to put an end to the unjustified detention of children and ensure these children get the care to which they are entitled."
How a media mogul helped turn Czechs against refugees - Politics in central and eastern Europe are increasingly driven by the businesses that own media outlets (Economist, link):
"In a report issued in June, the Czech broadcasting regulator found that the station’s tone shifted dramatically after the September 2015 meeting. It condemned the broadcasts for “not pay[ing] much attention to the perspectives of the refugees themselves and depict[ing] them rather as a source of problems”. It plans to release a longer report this month that may recommend sanctions. Robert Brestan, the reporter who broke the story of the TV Prima meeting, called it “a clear attempt to manipulate public opinion”. With media in central and eastern Europe increasingly controlled by politically connected owners, that description is starting to fit more and more of the region’s news."
Croatia can accept migrants allocated to it, says FM (dalje.com, link):
"Croatia is ready to take in 550 migrants and can also provide for an additional 1064, Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said on Wednesday after the European Commission unveiled a plan for the refugee crisis under which a total number of refugees who should be redirected from Greece, Italy and Hungary to Croatia is 1,614.....
“It remains to be seen whether the states (EU members) will accede to the obligatory refugee quotas or if they will be for non-binding quotas,” the Croatian minister said. Pusic said that migrants needed help, and she called for cooperation with countries neighbouring the EU, primarily Turkey as well as Lebanon and Jordan, and Egypt that are “neighbours across the Mediterranean” and that have already received a huge number of refugees."
Are You Syrious (14.9.16)
Anti-refugee riots on Chios
"International volunteers have reported a anti-refugees rally that was held on Chios last night. According to the people on site, loud explosion was heard around 8pm at the main square before some of the thugs moved to Souda trying to intimidate the refugees. The crowd was much bigger than the last protest and refugees were frightened. Riot police had to intervene and the protest caused a massive backlog of traffic in the town. Some of the volunteers were taken to the police station and held for few hours after standing up against the riot. There are no reports about arrests of the local thugs yet. Our fellow volunteers have expressed their frustration following the arrests, saying most of the thugs who are constant presence were never taken in."
UK must do more to stop migrants from Libya drowning due to its role in country’s destabilisation
"The report from the Foreign Affairs Committee said: “Given its role in the conflict and subsequent destabilisation in Libya, the UK has a particular responsibility in relation to migrants and refugees, an issue which has been exacerbated by the collapse of the Libyan state.”
The cross-party group of politicians claimed the UK bears “particular responsibility” for the migration crisis that the Libya intervention sparked and called on ministers to reassess their claim that rescuing people from sea creates a “pull factor” for more to come.
The demands were included in a damning report on the 2011 Libya campaign, which concluded that it lacked both “accurate intelligence” and a coherent strategy for the aftermath of removing Colonel Gaddafi."
New from Migszol: Migrant Solidarity Group of Hungary (links)
- Greetings from Belgrade, from the other side of the fence
- Analysis of the 2nd October referendum
- Overview of developments in Hungary between August 4 and September 4 : "Out of sight, out of mind? Violence continues on the anniversary of the Hungarian-Serbian border closure "
Refugees and vulnerable migrants in Europe by Humanitarian Practice Network (link):
"This edition of Humanitarian Exchange is dedicated to the humanitarian response to the influx of refugees and vulnerable migrants into Europe over the past year."
Secret Aid Worker: Greece has exposed the failures of the aid community (Keep Talking Greece, link)
"The usual excuses of the international aid community as to why planned projects do not materialize do not work in an EU country like Greece. So why does the international aid community fails to meet the needs for the refugees in Greece, when there is an EU funding of €86million, infrastructure and a stable government?"
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